Review by Booklist Review
With the recent discovery of a distant solar system featuring seven Earth-like planets, adding to a list of more than 3,000 so-called exoplanets that have been detected since 1988, scientific research devoted to finding intelligent life in other corners of the universe besides our own has never been more widespread and optimistic. In this collection of thought-provoking essays from leading planetary scientists and cosmologists, Al-Khalili, veteran broadcaster for the BBC's The Life Scientific, offers a wide spectrum of informed opinions about the feasibility of alien life and what forms it might take, if indeed we are not alone in the cosmos. For his essay Aliens and Us, UK astronomer Martin Rees imagines a potential future where silicon-based post-humans become the lone aliens settling new worlds. In Home Sweet Home, NASA senior scientist Chris McKay asks what makes a planet habitable in the first place. Other pieces debunk alien-abduction claims and review the history of UFO sightings. Must reading for star watchers, visionary anthropologists, and everyone wondering if and when the ETs will finally pay us a visit.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
British theoretical physicist Al-Khalili collects a wide array of easily digestible, information-packed essays from researchers writing on various aspects of the search for extraterrestrial life. Collectively, they approach the topic from all conceivable angles. For example, Monica Grady surveys "The Search for Life on Mars," Ian Stewart covers "Aliens in Science Fiction Writing," Dallas Campbell and Chris French discuss sightings and encounters, and Nick Lane investigates "How Life Got Started on Earth." The information, which may be unfamiliar to many, is presented clearly and matter-of-factly. The authors pose both physical and philosophical questions, often answering them differently or from different perspectives across essays grouped loosely by theme. All this information certainly sparks the imagination, but this collection is unquestionably scientific, and much of its mind-bending effect is due to corrections of common misconceptions. The resulting picture of the complexities of current thought on extraterrestrial life illuminates just how much we still have to discover and just how comfortable we are considering our own natures and the possibility of encountering life that we may not understand. Al-Khalili's collection is efficient and factual but never dry; it's an excellent primer on various concepts and aspects of potential alien life, and the consequences of such an earth-shattering discovery. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Al-Khalili, British theoretical physicist and author of Life on the Edge, has now pieced together this compilation of 20 essays on alien life written by some of the world's leading experts, including Anil Seth, Ian Stewart, and Adam Rutherford. The big questions are presented in an attempt to portray a balanced array of views. What types of theoretical encounters and alien motives are there? Where should our search for life extend? What is extraplanetary "life"? Where are we now in the time line of the hunt for cosmic company? The result is a rainbow of opinions, from positive affirmation that there is some form of life out there to a pessimistic treatment of mathematical improbabilities that throw the question out altogether. Much like Louisa Preston's Goldilocks and the Water Bears, this book succeeds in looking much deeper than the typical earthbound definition of life and examines strange creatures that survive in the harshest climates (such as resilient micro-animals) and may be indicative of the forms that could exist on other planets. Verdict With its authoritative voice, this book is geared toward physicists, chemists, and students of scientific research and may even be appreciated by curious sf fans and casual readers.-Bonnie Parker, Southern Crescent Technical Coll., Thomaston, GA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In a series of 20 essays detailing cutting-edge scientific data and theories, renowned researchers expound on the possibilityor probability?of extraterrestrial intelligence.In February 2017, NASA announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting a single star, three of which are located in the habitable or so-called "Goldilocks Zone," meaning their atmospheres are more likely to host life. Located a mere 40 light-years from Earth, these planets especially excited scientists because they are near enough to study using high-tech space telescopes. This means that humanity may have an opportunity to confirm or deny our sole existence in the universea proposition that, based on the number of planets and stars in our galaxy alone, seems unlikely. Yet no experiment has produced even a shred of evidence of any other life form (that we can detect). In this superb collection of essays, editor al-Khalili (Theoretical Physics/Univ. of Surrey; Paradox: The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics, 2012, etc.) assembles some of the most brilliant minds in astrophysics, cosmology, genetics, biochemistry, and other fields to provide lay readers with a comprehensive look at the search for life on other planets. From new technologies in spectroscopy to the much-anticipated James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2018, there are many ways in which researchers have their eyes to the deep skies. Equally fascinating are the different perspectives regarding how such life could arise: are carbon and liquid water integral? How might plate tectonics play a role? Could quantum mechanics explain how life emerged on Earth, and could it do so elsewhere? Each essay offers a unique take on these and myriad other probing questions, and as al-Khalili writes in his introduction, "thinking about extraterrestrials has led us to ask, and even begin to answer, some of the most profound questions about our own existence." The contributors include Martin Rees, Ian Stewart, and Monica Grady. An incisive and fun collection packed with mind-expanding ideas about our universe and ourselves. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
